Firing Squad
by Elesion
Summary: Eridan Ampora, age ten. He's got nowhere to go, nowhere to live, no parents and no food. His only advantage over the other street urchins is that he can read and stand his ground. He is royalty, after all. Captain Dualscar and his crew port in town, and Eridan intends to get on that ship.


Age ten. My parents are dead. My hair is dark and tangled, reaching my shoulders. Dark circles are formed underneath my eyes from lack of sleep. My ribs show, and I know it. I stole some clothes from another street urchin. They were too big, but at least they werent ripped. Stained, yes, with some kinda fluid that I wasn't entirely sure about. I sat curled up in an alleyway as rain pounded down on the rough cobblestone underneath me. Today I stole a loaf of bread, and almost got caught getting away from it, but luckily I'm small enough to get away. This kind of life wasnt suited for an Ampora. No, it wasn't. I know what kind of life I deserve. I deserved a life just like the one I used to have, where I wore expensive clothes, went on walks with my parents, and got to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wante. Most of all, though, I think I miss having a bed to sleep in. I'm too proud to join any of the other street urchin gangs, who band together to fight each other and steal food from the marketplace. I dont want to take care of someone else, when I can barely take care of myself. I do have an advantage over the others though, and that advantage is that I know how to read. So screw the others. I'll read a flyer or parts of a book to some fancy lady, and she gives me a coin in return. Sometimes it's enough for days of food, sometimes its not even enough for a meal. Doesn't matter to me since every little bit helps. Sometimes I have to save up over the course of a few days, weeks even, before I can buy a single meal. But you know what? I don't care. Because there's oppertunities on the horizon.

And if there's anything that living on the streets has taught me, its that you need to work for everything you have. And I'm going to get out of this hellhole. See, my ability to read gets me more than just a penny here and there. I know things, and I know when the ships are coming to port. And I know they're going to be looking for ship's boys. And what could be better than a life at sea? Sure, it'll be hard work, but I'm determine to get it done.

The morning before the ships are to arrive, I steal someone's kitchen knife and cut my hair. It's choppy, an I nearly hurt myself in the process, but I managed to get the curled locks down to my ears. I don't know how it looks at first, and end up searching for a puddle to stare down into. I look terrible. But a haircut probably did me good. I ditched the knife in a nearby bush, not caring too much about returning it. Some other kid will probably find it and put it to good use. I think.

When I reach the docks, there's a crowd forming. I can see a huge ship preparing to dock, with sailors rushing all around the deck. I'm excited. My heart is beating unreasonably fast, and I try to push my way through to the front of the crowd. It takes a while, but when I eventually do, I find a smaller group of street urchins crowding. They all have the same goal as me, I realize. They all want to be ship's boys. I know only some of us are going to be chosen by the captain, and I try to push my way to the front of the group anyway. I can tell they're all illiterate by the way they speak and the fact they're blatantly ignoring the advertisement for ship's boys that was tacked to a worn wooden post. I struggled to get over to it, barely making it through the crowd. It didn't say much, simply stated the names of the current crew on board, what the pay would be, and the duties involved. I was absolutely positive that I could do all of the required duties.

The ship pulled up in port, and it felt like forever before people began to emerge. The first men to emerged were dressed so elegantly, I couldn't believe my eyes. I shoved my way to the front, not caring about the shoves I got in return. The men stood in a straight line on the dock, in perfect formation, rifles flung across their shoulders. It was a while before the captain finally emerged from the deck. His hair was thick, black, and wavy, not unlike mine. As expected from a ship's captain, he was gruff, and had two large, wavy scars on his forehead. I wonder what his story was. I remembere his name from the flyer. Dualscar. Captain Dualscar. He had this extreme air of authority around him. A huge number of badges were sitting upon his deep violet jacket, marking each and every one of his accomplishments and his rank. In that moment, I knew that I wanted to be just like him one day.

Dualscar began barking orders to his first mate, a scrawny looking young man with greasy black hair. I'm honestly sort of surprised that a guy that small could possibly be good enough to be this man's first mate, but I accepted it for what it was. Men strode over to inspect us street dwellers, toying with the weaker ones. A booming voice bellowed out, "

You're all'a bunch'a weaklin's! Which one'a ya's got anythin' of value to us?" My stomach dropped and I looked up. It was Dualscar who had yelled it out. Instinctively, I shoved the kid in front of me out of the way and yelled out in response, my voice raspy from underuse.

"Captian Dualscar, I can read an' I'm fixin' to get on that ship!"

The kids around me quieted down, glaring. Dualscar strode over, and I swear to this day I could feel the ground shaking from the sheer power of his stride. He was larger than I thought up first, at least six foot five. My stomach did flipflops as he picked me out. Boys around me parted, and he leaned down, grabbing my shit collar roughly. I was afraid it would rip, and instead of squabbling, I braced myself and grabbed onto his enormous wrist.  
"What's yer name, kid?" His breath caused me to wrinkle my nose a little, and I gasped, fear overtaking my insides. That stare of his had something undeniably menacing behind it, as if the man were born to dominate and kill everything in his path.

"E-Eridan Ampora, sir!" I managed to squeak out, keeping my voice as even as possible. A flicker of recognizion flashed behind Dualscar's eyes, and he tossed me down to the ground, snorting. The concrete was rough, harder than I rememebered it. Luckily, I managed not to cry out.

"Ampora, Ampora, Ampora! We've got an Ampora on our hands, folks!" He laughed, a horrible wretching sound. "What, ya thinkin' you're tough enough to be a sailor, you pompous freak? What, dirtied yourself up to look like ya been starvin' on the streets, just like all the other boys? I got news for you, you little shit. It ain't happenin', even if you can read! As if you need to do that anyway!" He turned to leave, still laughing to himself. Who the hell did he think he was? I jumped to my feet, wincing as pain shot through my leg. I probably landed on it badly.

"Captain Dualscar, as a member of the Ampora family, I _demand_ you let me on that ship!" I was only eight when my parents had been murdered. My voice was thick, like someone used to getting their way. Because I was, in fact, used to getting my way. Dualscar froze, and turned around, fury evident on his face.

"You dare speak to me like that, boy? You fuckin' dare speak to me like that?" He didn't make a move. And I took it as a challenge.

"Since you OBV-VIOUSLY know-w-" My stutter. Red flashed into my cheeks and I gulped, swiping my tongue over my lips. I could do this. "Since you obviously know _all about_ the Ampora family, sir, you'd know that the head of the family and his wife have been dead for two years, and I am their son. I'm royalty, and therefore, more eligble to be a ships boy than any of these other boys!" I stood my ground, arms crossed. "You and I both know that if my parents were alive, I'd probably be brought down here to be on the ship anyway, because my parents were seafaring folk. It's in my blood. It's my birthright."

Everything was silent in those few moments. Dualscar was fuming, and I swore that if he could kill a person with a glance, then he probably would. A few excited murmurs escaped from the crowd. What I hadn't expected, though, was for Dualscar's thin lips to twist into what faintly resembled a smile.  
"Now that's what I like ta' see in a man. Alright, I'll take you, ya' scrap. But mess up once, and I'm tossin' you overoard without any second thought. Get on the ship."

I don't know how long had passed since then. My body was changing, shaping into something resembling an actual person. Someone who was well fed, and didn't live on the street. I did my best to stay clean, sneaking out in the dead of night when there was a storm to douse myself, and stealing soap from the storage to wash with. In fact, a lot of the ship's boys started doing this after they figured out what I was up to. For all I knew, the whole ship would do it just to keep clean. Not that anyone seemed to have a problem with it. What I learned about this crew right off was that if you weren't gonna rat someone out, then they wouldn't rat you out. It was a two way street. A silent bond between us lower men. The food got pretty old after a while, and I learned a lot of tricks to make sure I got decent grub. First: the biscuit. Always tap it agains the side of the table. Any bugs that managed to get into them will fall out. I like to tear them up and stick them into whatever slop we were fed that day. It was pretty much always the same when it came down to it. There were indentations in the table for our dishes, so keep things from sliding around and spilling when the water got rough. I learned how things operated for a ships boy, and took to almost everything okay, I guess. But the thing I took to the most was operating the cannons and shooting rifles. Couldn't do shit with a sword, though. I found that out pretty quickly. But the guns? That came in handy not long after we had been out at sea.

I'll never forget that day. Another ship was on the horizon. Their flag ran neutral, but you never know when you're out on the open sea. Nobody can help you there. When nightfall came, I was on first watch. Honestly, I thought it was the worst job there was! There was nobody to talk to. Just me and the water. Dont tell anyone, but sometimes, I took a short nap during my shift. But it's a good thing I didn't do it on this night. The ship that I had spotted earlier came back. I could hear men yelling in the distance. My first reaction was to hop down from my post and grab one of the older men. I told them what I had seen, but by the time I was finished, I heard something fire. It was a canon, aimed right at us. But it was too dark for the other ship to see properly, and they missed by a landslide. And that was just enough time. Everything from that point on seemed to go by in a blur. The other crewmates were running around, loading the cannons, making sure their rifles were ready to shoot. Dualscar was roaring, and shoved a rifle in my hands. I was to fight alongside him. At the time, I didnt think much of it, but now that I look back on it, it was a massive fucking honor. We fired cannons, missing almost every time, but one of ours managed to pierce the deck of the other ship. We pulled up next to them, sliding our plank out to make a way to get onto their ship. I stayed on ours, of course, firing at anyone that wasn't part of my crew. Hell, I might have shot some of my crewmates while I was at it. It was too dark to tell. It was probably also the scariest moment of my life. By the end, most of our guys were on the other ship, either killing or pillaging. I was with Dualscar and a few stray ships boys who were still working the cannons, ready to fire if necessary. I turned, and saw a figure running towards Dualscar. I couldnt tell who it was, but they had a sword, and that's all I cared about. I poised my rifle and shot, knocking her to the ground. It was a direct hit. I heard her screeching. Her? Dualscar whipped around at the noise, spotting her.  
"Mindfang." He was growling, standing above her with his arms crossed. But she was already almost gone, bleeding out onto the desk, her breaths coming out in fast puffs. "Good fucking riddance." He kicked her, and that's the last thing I remembered about that night.

I woke up in the 'hospital', a room below deck fll of unclean surgical instruments and crude medicine. I had gotten out of the battle with a terrible gash across my midsection. Not entirely sure where it came from. I was stiched and bandaged up, instructed to take it easy until I healed. And then it was back to work. The first mate wandered in as I was attempting to get off of the table I had been laid on, telling me to go to the captain's quarters as soon as possible. I gulped and nodded. Walking was painful, more painful than anything I had ever experienced. An older man stopped me in my tracks and offered to help, but I shoved him off, determined to make it on my own. And so I did.

"Captain Dualscar? It's me, Eridan. I w-was told to come see you." A gruff voice from inside the cabin repsonded, instructing me to enter. I pushed open the door with the hand that wasn't wrapped around my midsection.  
"Sit down, boy." Dualscar was hunched over his desk, a large bruise covering his forehead. I closed the door behind me as I stumbled over, curling up instantly in his extra chair.  
"W-what is it sir?" My cheeks flushed with a purpose beyond my pain as I realized my stutter, but truthfully, I dont think it matters.  
"Were you the one that shot Mindfang, Ampora?" He was direct, right to business. That's what I liked about Dualscar.

"Y-yes, sir. I saw-w her running at you, and shot her."

"You saved my life, Ampora."

"I'm honored to be able to hav-ve done that for you, sir."

"when you're healed, I want you takin' over the firing squad. You will be given full access to the rifles, bullets, and will be in command of the cannons, as well." He clasped his hands together, his expression solid. I couldn't read what he was feeling, and I did my best to copy the expression, trying to keep the feelings welling up inside me under control.

"Yes, sir."


End file.
